Short-term loans in South Africa: what 1 to 6 months really costs

You can compare amounts and terms on the online loans list. First, the definition.

Regulation 39 of the National Credit Regulations defines a “short term credit transaction” as a credit transaction where the deferred amount at the start is not more than R8 000, the whole amount is repayable within six months, and money is paid out to you to use as you wish. Pawn transactions are included. A loan that is conditional on the money going to someone other than you (unless you asked for that), or to a person related to the lender, is left out.

How it differs from the loans people compare it with:

• Payday loan is everyday language, not a legal term. It usually means one repayment on or soon after payday. The same product repaid in instalments over a few months is the short-term loan on this page; the one-payment case is in our payday loans guide.
• Personal loan is unsecured credit of any size, normally over longer terms. Its interest ceiling is the repo rate plus 21 percentage points a year; see personal loans.
• Instant loan is a label for fast payout, and speed does not change the category: instant loans.

What the category means for price: for short-term credit regulation 42 caps interest at 5% a month on the first loan and 3% a month on later loans in the same calendar year, and the initiation fee at R165 plus 10% of the amount above R1 000, never more than R1 050. The lender must show the interest as a monthly rate.

Ready to see amounts and terms side by side? Compare short-term loans.

Century publishes its charges (creditza.co.za, checked 18 Oct 2026): interest of 0.16% a day for new clients, about 4.8% a month; an initiation fee of R165 plus 10% above R1 000, plus VAT; a service fee of R69 a month, which equals the R60 maximum the NCR gives plus 15% VAT. Below, the same R3 000 at three terms for a new client. Method: the initiation fee (R365) is added to the loan, interest runs on the reducing balance at 4.8% a month, instalments are equal, the service fee is paid every month. Indicative sums, not a quote.

VAT on the initiation fee adds about R55 to each column. The pattern: every extra month lowers the instalment and raises the total, because the service fee and interest keep running. A repeat client at Century pays 0.1% a day, about 3% a month, which is the ceiling regulation 42 sets for later short-term loans in a calendar year. If the quotation lets you pay the initiation fee separately and once off, no interest is charged on it (NCR, media release January 2024), which lowers the interest rows. Our payday guide shows R3 000 for 30 days at R3 578 because it charges interest on the R3 000 only; here the initiation fee is financed, hence the difference of about R18.

Check the same sums on a real card. Century: terms up to 6 months, per its site; the card shows the fees used above and the date we checked them.

Need cash for a few weeks? Pick one of these three, set your amount and term, and apply online:

• Creditbar: R500 to R5 000 for 7 to 61 days; early repayment without penalties, by its own statement.
• Crediwise: up to R8 000; says it can pay to an eWallet instantly on any day.
• Century: up to R8 000 for up to 180 days, with interest, initiation fee and service fee published.

Kredio says it decides in 15 minutes or less and takes applications 24/7 (kredio.co.za, 27 Oct 2026).

Applying costs nothing and happens on the lender’s own website. Before you accept, the lender must give you a pre-agreement statement and quotation with the total you will repay (section 92 of the Act).

Pick your amount and days on the online loans list: lenders that do not offer them drop off.

What each lender writes about term, decision and payout on its card (checked 18 and 19 Oct 2026), ordered by the longest term it states. The order is not a ranking. “Not stated” means the pages we read do not say.

Only two of the five state a term at all, and Century is the only one that publishes interest and fees. If term matters to you, ask the other three for the quotation before you decide. These are the lenders’ own statements and the timing depends on your bank and on their checks; the question of speed has its own page: instant loans.

Beyond the five: FASTA says it pays out “even when banks are closed”, weekends and public holidays included, once the application is approved and every DebiCheck mandate is authorised. All its applications are subject to affordability and credit checks (fasta.co.za, 28 Oct 2026). Lenders that pay to an eWallet on any day are in eWallet loans.

Need the longest term on our list? The Century card shows up to 180 days with its fees.

A short-term loan is the wrong choice when the instalment does not fit your month. The Act sets no percentage of income: it asks whether you will be able to pay all your obligations on time (section 79). Do the sum yourself. Take your pay after tax, subtract rent, food, transport and every debit order you already have, and compare what is left with the instalment. On the table above, R3 000 over six months is about R728 a month and over three months about R1 300.

Using a new short-term loan to pay off an old one repeats the costs. Regulation 42 sets the initiation fee per credit agreement, so a new agreement for R3 000 carries another R365 plus VAT before any interest. Two lenders on our list let you postpone: LendPlus on application up to two days before the due date, if you pay the interest and fees accrued so far and sign a new agreement; Primeloans by paying the interest. Both mean paying for the extra time.

If the debt is already several loans, look at debt consolidation loans, and for the one-payment version of this loan at payday loans. A creditor you are already behind with is better approached before the due date than after.

Test your budget first. Enter your amount and term in the loan calculator and compare the monthly figure with what you have left.

Before you accept a loan:

• read the pre-agreement statement and quotation: it must show the interest rate, every fee and the total you will repay (section 92), and for a small agreement the quote is binding on the lender for five business days at your request, subject to its assessment;
• check the total cost of credit, not only the rate: interest, initiation fee, monthly service fee and credit life insurance if you take it; what lenders on our list state about their rates and fees is in our loan interest rates report;
• know your right to settle early: you may settle a credit agreement at any time, with or without notice, by paying the unpaid principal plus unpaid interest and fees up to that date (section 125); the extra early termination charge in that section applies only to large agreements, and Creditbar says early repayment carries no penalties;
• look the lender up in the NCR register of credit providers under its legal name; a registered lender has an NCRCP number.

Red flags: a fee or “insurance” asked before the money is paid out, a lender that exists only on WhatsApp or social media, a promise to lend to everyone, a request for your banking PIN or OTP. The NCR advises never paying an upfront fee. Anyone can report a breach of the Act to the NCR (section 136).

Now compare. Open the online loans list and check each lender’s page for its NCR number and the date of our check.